I actually really do like them, but either I'm doing something seriously wrong, or else the packets I've bought are mostly dead seed and just don't germinate for some reason. I'd really like to try the chioggia I think it is - the 'bullseye beet', with concentric coloured bands of flesh inside. Don't know anyone selling them around here, so I'd have to grow my own.

for a few years with stunted beets. I was buying newer varieties that sounded 'cool'. I found they didn't germinate or the number of days until they were large enough to be useful was vastly underestimated in my cool climate. So this year, I bought a 'tried and true' kind. Plain ol' Detroit dark red. It wasn't the earliest but I managed to get absolutely gorgeous greens off of them and to add to that, the most beautiful, uniform beets. I do squarefoot gardening and I only grew beets in 2 12 inch squares and managed to get enough shredded beets to fill 3 large freezer bags full to the top (I shred them because I use them mainly for borscht in the winter and I prefer shredded to chunks - plus it's easier than cutting them when you have a food processor, LOL). And I'm not really a person with a green thumb...if I can do it, you can too!

Anyway...my point is to keep trying - search for 'tried and true' varieties and buy your seeds from a reputable seed catalog. Good luck I'm lucky enough that we always have beets in our local grocery store, so I don't HAVE to grow mine. I'd feel a lot of pressure if I didn't have that to fall back on!

last week and dressed it with walnut oil and prickly pear balsamic vinegar.

It was delicious!

We used the greens and the stalks mixed with fingerlings, tomatoes, onion and garlic for dinner the following night.

How do you prepare them?

but they are tougher than many so I braise them.

First I remove the stalks and ribs. Chop them add to a large sauté pan with olive oil, onions and garlic, salt and pepper. Then, I either ribbon the leaves or tear them into roughly 2" x 2" pieces. I'll ribbon them if I want them to have some crunch or tear them if I am going to cook them super soft.

Rinse them well and leave them dripping wet to start off the braising and add them to the pan with more salt and pepper.

When the pan is dry, I'll add wine, about a 3rd of a cup of wine, and while they cook, add more as needed until the greens are soft.

At this point you can dress them anyway you like. Some of my favorites:

Pine nuts and balsamic

Toasted black sesame and orange sections and orange juice

Roasted fingerlings and tomatoes

Toasted chick peas, lemon juice, some lemon zest and smoked paprika.

to try this.

The pine nuts and balsamic really appeal to me.

I lived in the south for many years and grew to love all kinds of greens, but I never got the knack of cooking them.

and once you get going, you'll come up with a lot of combinations that you'll like.

My favorite is roasted, sliced and served warm on lettuce with goat cheese, candied walnuts and a light vinaigrette.

What's your favorite?

and soon I will finally be able to make a big pot of borscht! That's my favorite way to eat beets - I make more of a borscht stew than a thin soup so it is jam-packed with shredded beets. Several times each winter I make a huge batch and freeze it in single servings, so I can have borscht all winter long.

I have found a new way to enjoy beets too...parboil them, then put them in a roasting pan and add some herbs and balsamic vinegar and roast until somewhat crispy on the outside. Yum!

It was decades before I found out there was such a thing as Yale beets.